Sectional top operating table with adjustment mechanism



July 28, 1953 H. R. SHAMPAINE SECTIONAL TOP OPERATING TABLE WITH ADJUSTMENT MECHANISM 5 Sfieets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 3, 1951 mam/7m ROBERT SHAMPAINE HYMAN July 28, 1953 H. R. SHAMPAINE 2,647,026

SECTIONAL TOP OPERATING TABLE WITH ADJUSTMENT MECHANISM Filed Aug. 3, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 5.

WWW/W1? HYMAN ROBERT SHAMPAINE July 28, 1953 H. R. SHAMPAINE 2,647,026

SECTIONAL TOP OPERATING TABLE WITH ADJUSTMENT MECHANISM HYMAN ROBERT SHAMPAINE H. R. SHAMPAINE July 28, 1953 SECTIONAL TOP OPERATING TABLE WITH ADJUSTMENT MECHANISM Filed Aug. 5, 1951 wl zm/f ROBER'T SHAMPAINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 rl/fflfllffffllllaFf!!! I mw ///lrlllllfll l HYMAN 177 MFA ff y 8, 1953 H. R. SHAMPAINE 2,647,026

SECTIONAL TOP OPERATING TABLE WITH ADJUSTMENT MECHANISM I W/i/W'M HYMAN ROBERT SHAMPAINE J/WW Patented July 28, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SECTIONAL TOP OPERATING TABLE WITH ADJUSTMENT MECHANISM 4 Claims.

-This invention relates generally to sectional top operating table with adjustment mechanism, and, more particularly, to a certain new and useful improvement in surgical operating tables of the type commonly used in performing major surgery.

This invention has for its principal object the provision of an operating table having an articulated top which, as a unit, may be laterally and longitudinally tilted and may be adjusted so that its top-forming sections will assume a number of various positions required by surgeons in the performing of different types of surgical operations.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an operating table of the type stated in which the principal controls by which the table may be adjusted to its various positions are located near the head end of the table and are thus conveniently accessible to the anesthetist, technician, or other operator to whom is normally assigned the duty of manipulating and positioning the operating table in a surgical operating room during the course of a surgical operation.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an operating table of the type stated which is extremely compact and can be lowered from a relatively low position to a relatively high position with respect to the floor through a range which has hitherto been considered impossible in surgical operating tables.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an operating table of the type stated which is capable of being adjusted to a so-called exaggerated kidney position for performing renal surgery.

An additional object of the present invention is the provision of improved compact operating mechanism which is especially well adapted for enclosure in a housing of relatively small dimensions.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention resides in the novel features of form, construction, arrangement, and combination of parts presently described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings--- Figure 1 is a perspective view of an operating table constructed in accordance with and embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the operating table with the top adjusted in the extreme kidney position, the reflex abdominal position being shown in dotted lines;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view, ofthe operating table with the top adjusted to the Trendelenburg position with the reverse Trendelenburg position being shown in dotted lines;

Figure 4 is a side elevational view of the operating table with the top adjusted to chair position;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of the top portion of the operating table;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 66 of Figure 5;

Figures 7, 8, and 9 are fragmentary sectional views taken along lines 'l, 88, and 99, respectively, of Figure 6;

Figures 10 and 11 are fragmentary sectional views taken along lines l0lfl and ll-II, respectively, of Figure 5; and

Figure 12 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line I2l2 of Figure 10.

Referring now in more detail and by reference characters to the drawings the operating table, as best appears in Figure 1, comprises generally a pedestal I and base 2 adapted to rest upon the floor of the usual operating room, the latter being conventionally equipped with casters (not shown) adapted to be lifted upwardly out of operative position by manipulation of a foot lever 3 when the table is to be disposed in a stationary position. Another foot lever 4 may be conventionally provided for locking the table in such stationary position. Similarly, the pedestal l is conventionally provided with a hydraulic piston 5 adapted for upward and downward movement responsive to actuation of the foot pedal 6, which is, in turn, operatively connected interiorly of the pedestal l to any conventional type of hydraulic mechanism commonly associated with such structures. Since the present invention in no way relates to the pumping mechanism by which the piston 5 is elevated this structure is not shown or described in detail.

Rigidly mounted on the upper end of the piston 5 is a cap-casting or saddle l, integrally provided on its upper face with two pillow blocks 8, 9, arranged in longitudinal alignment with each other along the longitudinal center line of the operating table, and being provided with bearing caps I ll, ii, for rotatably supporting axially aligned pivot shafts l2, [3, which are, in turn, pinned within the forwardly and rearwardly presented sleeves l4, [5, respectively, of a unitary bridge casting 16.

The bridge casting I6 is thus arranged to rock laterally about the longitudinal axis of the shafts I2, I 3, and integrally includes a transversely extending tubular quill H, which retatably supports a concentric or coaxial crossshaft I8, which projects at its opposite end outwardly therefrom and is secured against axial shifting movement by set-collars H3, 20, and at its outer end is turned down diametrally for rotative disposition within bearings collars 2|, 22, which are, in turn, mounted in the side plates 23, 24, of the main-frame casting 25. As will be seen from Figure 6, the main-frame is essentially rectangular in horizontal cross-sectional shape and integrally includes forward and rearward cross-beams 25, 2?, by which the side plates 23, 25, are connected together. Thus, it will be seen that the main-frame 25 of the operating table is capable of being tilted laterally about the axis of the shafts l2, I3, and longitudinally upon the cross-shsft l8. It should be specifically noted in this connection that the main-frame 25 rotates upon, but not with, the cross-shaft l8. Thus, when the main-frame 25 is held stationary the cross-shaft i3 is still free to rotate and, contrariwise, irrespective of whether the shaft I8 is rotating or stationary, the main-frame 25 may be rocked about the ends thereof as bearings.

The shaft l2 projects at its forward end beyond the pillow-block 3 and pinned to such projecting end is a depending plate 28 provided on its lower margin with a downwardly presented worm-gear segment 29, which, in turn, meshes with a wormgear 36 pinned upon a control shaft 3| journaled in bearing sleeves 32, 33, formed integrally with a bracket-plate 3 5, folded or otherwise rigidly secured upon a forwardly presented surface of the saddle 1. Pinned or otherwise rigidly mounted upon the outer ends of the shaft 3| are conventional hand wheels by which the shaft 3| may be rotated from either side of the operating table. The bracket-plate 34 is centrally provided with a forwardly projecting integral bass 36 for stop-forming engagement alternately on one or the other of its laterally presented faces with stop-screws 31, 38, adjustably mounted in the plate 28. Thus, when the shaft 3| is rotated the worm-gear 30 will drive the segment 23 and the plate 28 to which it is attached arcuately to one side or the other depending upon the direction in which the shaft 3| is rotated. This rocking movement will be transmitted to the shaft |2 and thence to the bridge I6 and mainframe 25, carried thereby, so that the entire main-frame and all supported structure will til-t laterally from one side to the other within limits determined by the setting of the stop-screws 31, 38. Rigidly mounted on and extending rearwardly from the main-frame 25 at the corner between the cross-beam 21 and the side plate 24, is a first control shaft housing 39 adapted for rotatably supporting a control shaft 60 which projects therethrough and at its rearward end is rigidly provided with a conventional hand wheel 4 At its other or forward end the control shaft 60 is milled to provide an annular series of oblique teeth 42 which mesh with a spur-gear 43 pinned upon the rearward end of a counter-shaft t; which is appropriately bearinged in the mainframe 25 and extends lengthwise therein in spaced parallel proximity to the inner face of the side plate 24, being journaled at its forward end in suitable needle bearings 45, 45, which are, in turn, operatively mounted in bearing bosses 36, 4?, formed integrally with and projecting laterally inwardly from the inner face of the side plate 24. Keyed to the counter-shaft M on that portion of its length which extends between the bosses 46, G7, and held between conventional ball thrust bearings 48, 49, is a worm-gear 50, which meshes with a worm-gear segment 5|, rigidly bolted to the lateral face of a bracket-plate 52, which is formed integrally with and depends from the end of the bridge H5. The bracketplate 52 is somewhat arcuately shaped to conform to the shape of the segment 5| and at its extremities is provided with stop-screws 53, 54, which are, in turn, adapted to abut alternately against the upwardly presented faces of the bosses 46, 41.

By appropriate rotation of the control shaft to, the worm-gear 5D is rotated and moves along the relatively stationary segment 5| to cause the entire main-frame 25 to tilt longitudinally around the axis of the cross-shaft l3. In this connection it may be well to point out that, since the segment 5| is rigidly bolted to and is, in effect, a part of the bridge IE, it is stationary with reference to the main-frame-25 so far as longitudinal position of the segment 5| is relative, so to speak, tilting movement is concerned. This stationary since the entire bridge :6 can be tilted laterally and, of course, the segment 5| will move with the bridge it; in this particular direction. It will, however, be clearly apparent from reference to Figure 8 that, by appropriate rotation of the hand wheel 4|, the main-frame 25 and all structure carried thereby may be tilted from front to rear about the axis of the cross-shaft l8 within limits of movement permitted by the settings of the stop-screws 53, 54.

Similarly mounted upon the opposite corner of the main-frame 25, that is to say the corner formed between the side plate 23 and the crossbeam 27, is a second control shaft housing 55 for rotatably supporting a second control shaft 56 which is also rigidly provided on its rearwardly projecting end with a second hand wheel 57. The control shaft 56 is also milled at its forward end in the provision of an annular series of oblique teeth 58 for meshing with a spur-gear 59 pinned upon the rearwardly projecting end of a counter shaft 60, which is, in turn, journaled at its forward end between bosses 6|, 62, formed integrally with and projecting laterally inwardly from the inner face of the side plate 23. Keyed to the counter shaft 69 along that portion of its length which extends between the bosses 6|, 62, and conventionally held between ball thrust bearings 63, 64, is a worm-gear 65, which meshes with a worm segment 66 rigidly bolted upon the lateral face of an arcuate plate 61, which is, in turn, pinned to the cross-shaft l8 and is provided on .its opposite extremities with stop-screws 68, 69, for alternate engagement against the upwardly presented faces of the bosses 6|, 62. It will thus be evident that by appropriate rotation of the hand wheel 57 the worm will be rotated and the worm segment 6| correspondingly rotated to produce rotational or rocking movement of the shaft i8 within and relative to the bridgequill H and independent of the longitudinal tilting movement of the main-frame 25, all for purposes presently more fully appearing.

The side plates 23, 24, are extended upwardly and forwardly in the provision of integral shoulders 10, 1|, respectively, and, upon such shoulders, are integrally provided with upstanding pivot bosses 72, 13. Rockably supported between the pivot bosses 72, 13, by means of pivot pins '14, i5, is a fiat seat panel 16, the top sur- "face of which is preferably, though not necessarily, covered with a sheet of stainless steel or other suitable sanitary and corrosion-proof material. As will be seen by reference to Figures 1 and 5, the seat panel 16 is fulcrumed relatively close to its rearward margin and on its opposite lateral side, adjacent such rearward margin, is rockably provided with depending links l7, 18, which are, in turn, pivotally engaged at their lower ends to the forward ends of rock arms 19, 80, the latter being rigidly fixed to and rtatable with the cross-shaft l8. Thus, it will be seen that as the cross-shaft I8 is rotated the seat panel 16 will be swung up and down about a transverse axis extending through the center lines of the pivot pins 14, 15, and such movement will be relative to the main-frame 25 so that the seat panel 16 can be tilted longitudinally with and as a part of the main-frame 25 and can be additionallytilted longitudinally even when the main-frame Z is stationary. It is this additional longitudinal tilting movement which makes it possible to achieve an extreme or exaggerated kidney position hitherto not attainable on major operating tables and thereby makes it possible to eliminate the so-called kidney elevator or kidne bridge.

Pivotally jointed to the seat panel 16 across the rearward transverse margin thereof and extending rearwardly therefrom is a back panel 9| also covered or clad in stainless steel or any other suitable material and pivotally connected along its lateral margins with depending links 82, 83, which, for structural rigidity, are integrally cross-connected by a transverse bar 84 and are, in turn, pivotally connected at their lower ends to the forward ends of crank arms 85, 86, the latter being, in turn, rigidly secured upon the laterally projecting ends of a jackshaft 81, joumaled in and extending transversely through a jackshaft housing 81' rigidly bolted upon and extending in upwardly spaced parallel relation to the rear cross-beam 21 of the mainframe 25. Intermediate at its ends, the jackshaft housing 81' is diametrally enlarged to provide a gear box 88 for enclosing a wormgear 89, which is keyed upon the jackshaft 81 and meshes with a worm90, which is, in turn, keyed upon a drive shaft 9| journaled in and extending lengthwise through the gear box 88. Also keyed upon the drive shaft 9| and housed within the gear box 88 is a spur-gear 92 meshing with a small pinion 93, keyed upon an auxiliary drive shaft 94 also journaled in and extending longitudinally rearwardly from the gear-box 88, as best seen in Figure 7. Provided for optional disposition upon the rearwardly projecting end of either of the, drive shafts 9 I, 94, is a conventional crank handle 95 having a thumb screw 96 by which it may be securely locked in place. By securing the handle 95 to the shaft 94 the worm 90 will be driven through the pinion 93 and the spur-gear 92 at comparatively reduced speed and increased mechanical advantage. On the other hand, if the handle 95 is mounted upon the drive shaft 9| the rotational movement is transmitted directly to the worm 90 with resulting increased speed and lowered mechanical advantage. In either case, this rotational movement is transmitted through the counter-shaft 60 and the rock arms 85, 86, to the links 82, 83, and, in turn, elevate or lower the back panel 8| depending, of course, upon the direction of rotation of the handle 95. It will be understood in this connection that the alternate shafts 9|, 94, make it possible to raise or lower the back panel 9| either rapidly or slowly as circumstances may require.

Pivotally jointed to the seal panel 16 along the forward margin thereof and carried thereby is a leg panel 9'! conventionally provided on its under face with ratchet links 98 by which the relative position of the leg panel 91 with respect to the seal panel 16 may be adjusted and maintained. Inasmuch as the leg panel 91 and ratchet links 98 are conventional they have not been separately illustrated or described in detail.

The operating surface or top of the operating table comprising conjunctively the back panel 8|, the seat panel 16, and the leg panel 91, may be adjusted from a 35 Trendelenburg position to a 30 reversed Trendelenburg position by appropriate rotation of the hand wheel 4 I, as shown in Figure 3. The back panel BI is adjustable by rotation of the crank handle 95, from a chair position, as shown in Figure 4, to an extreme kidney reverse angle of as shown in Figure 2. It is one of the unique features of the operating table of the present invention that the single hand wheel or control 51 serves to adjust the top from the extreme kidney position to the reflex abdominal position and vice versa without use of the other controls.

By reason of the fact that the bridge I6 and the cross-shaft l8 carried thereby is located in a high position relative to the side plates 23, 24, and the remainder of the table controls are underslung, so to speak, it is possible to drop the piston 5 to its lowermost position and thus dispose the operating table in an extreme kidney position with the peak of the angle at a minimum height of approximately thirty-two inches above the floor, thereby avoiding the use of a foot stool for the surgeon. Furthermore, the ideal kidney position with a reverse angle of 130 can readily be achieved on the operating table of the present invention without the use of a kidney elevator or inserted elevating pads or bridges. This position results in complete support of the patients body from the apex of the kidney angle to the extremities. This exaggerated kidney position, furthermore, affords optimum space between the costal margin and the iliac crest providing maxim-um exposure for renal surgery.

It is also possible to adjust the operating table of the present invention to a vertical or so-called 90 chair position with the seat panel 16 at an extremely low minimum height of approximately twenty-six inches from the floor. This minimum height is highly desirable for certain types of brain surgery and ear-nose-and-throat surgery.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A surgical operating table comprising a pedestal, a hydraulically actuated piston operatively mounted on the pedestal, a main-frame operatively mounted on the upper end of the piston, said main-frame having a forward end and a rearward end, a seat panel having a forward end and rearward end, said seat panel being pivotally mounted on the main-frame adjacent the forward end thereof for tilting movement about an axi extending transversely across the main-frame, a leg panel pivotally mounted on the forward end of the seat panel, a back panel pivotally mounted on the rearward end of the seat panel, first and second rotary driving means operatively mounted in the main-frame, a first link operatively connected to the first rotary driving means and pivotally connected to the seat panel rearwardly of its point of pivoted connection to the main-frame for tilting the seat panel up and down around its axis, a second. link operatively connected to the second rotary driving means'and pivotally connected to the back panel rearwardly of the point of pivotal connection between the back panel and the seat panel for causing the back panel to articulate with respect to the seat panel, and means for mechanically tilting the main-frame with respect to the piston.

2. A surgical operating table comprising a pedestal, a hydraulically actuated piston operatively mounted on the pedestal, a'main-frame tilta-bly mounted on the upper end of the piston, said main-frame having a forward end and a rearward end, a seat panel having a forward end and rearward end, said seat panel being pivotally mounted on the main-frame adjacent the forward end thereof for tilting movement about an axis extending transversely across the mainframe, a leg panel pivotally mounted on the forward end of the seat panel, manually releasable ratchet means operatively disposed between the seat panel and the leg panel for permitting the operatively mounted in the main-frame, a first link operatively connected to the first rotary driving means and pivotally connected to the seat panel rearwardly of its point of pivoted connection to the main-frame for tilting the seat panel up and down around its axis, a second link operatively connected to the second rotary driving means and pivotally connected to the back panel rearwardly of the point of pivotal connection between the back panel and the eat panel for causing the back panel to articulate with respect to the seat panel, and means for mechanically tilting the main-frame with respect to the piston.

3. A surgical operating table comprising a pedestal, a hydraulically actuated piston operatively mounted on the pedestal, a saddle rigidly mounted on the upper end of the piston, a bridge member mounted in the saddle for lateral-tilting movement thereon about a longitudinally extending axis, said bridge member including a transverse quill extendingperpendicularly across said axis, a shaft rotatably mounted in and projecting at its ends from the quill, a main-frame operatively mounted on the upper end of the projecting ends of the shaft, a seat panel pivotally mounted on the main-frame for tilting movement about an axis extend-ing transversely across the main-frame, and means for mechan-, ica'lly tilting the seat panel about said axis. 4. A surgical operating table comprising a. pedestal, a hydraulically actuated piston opera: tively mounted on the pedestal, a saddle rigidly mounted on the upper end of the piston, a bridge member mounted in the saddle for lateraltilting movement thereon about a longitudinally extend-l ing axis, .said bridge member including a transverse quill extending perpendicularly across said axis, a shaft rotatably mounted in and projecting at its ends from the quill, a main-frameoperae] tively mounted on the upper endof the projecting ends of the shaft, a seat panel pivotally mounted on the main-frame .for .tilting v,move-. ment about an axis extending transversely across the main-frame, rock arms pinned to the shaft, links operatively connecting .the rock arms and the seat panel, and means for rotatin the shaft and thereby tilting the seat panel about said transversely extending axis. HYMAN ROBERT SHAMPAINE.

References Cited in the file bf thispatent UNITED STATES-PATENTS Number Name Date 1,814,482 Miller July 14, 1931 1,946,899 Clachko Feb. 13, 1934 2,092,266 Talas Sept. '7, 19 2,172,941 Manning et al Sept. 12, 1939 2,217,783 Bell Oct. 15, 1940 2,416,410 Shampaine Feb. 25, 1947 2,520,455 Clachko Aug. 129, 1950' FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 490,097 Great Britain Aug. 9, 1938 

